My Big Fat Greek Vacation

By DANIEL RUTHThe Tampa TribuneDaniel Ruth's Big Fat Greek Vacation

Published: Jul 29, 2007

ATHENS, Greece - Maybe the best place to begin this story is at the end.

There are many reasons why we travel - adventure, knowledge, romance, fun, relaxation.

All of those certainly applied during our recent trek to Greece. But there was something more that drew us to this beautiful place.

With my better half of Hellenic descent, we had traveled back o Greece so that our two young-adult sons could experience their ancestral heritage. This was also a dream come true for my wife, Angela, to visit the village of Nafplio - to walk the same streets, to see the same sights as her immigrant grandmother a century ago.

And now, literally hours before our departure from Athens, a Greek tragedy was unfolding in our hotel room as we did some last-minute packing.

Our camera, capturing everything we had shared during the past 10 days, was gone.

But how? We had been warned repeatedly about Athens' infamous pickpockets. Could one of them have snatched the camera while we were riding a crowded Metro train? Had Angela perhaps left the camera while we were touring the University of Athens earlier in the day?

It was nearing 11 p.m. In about five hours, we would be making our way to the airport - leaving behind any infinitesimally remote hope of recovering the camera.

The helpful and sympathetic night-desk clerk at the Best Western Ilisia Hotel, where we had moved to on our last day, could only provide Angela a few phone numbers.

And what had begun as one of the most meaningful travel experiences of our lives began to end on a heartbreaking note.

To be sure, our trip to Greece had been about a year in the dreaming and planning.

After surfing the Internet, Angela had discovered (through AthensStudios.com) an apartment we could rent for seven days in the Kolonaki neighborhood in east Athens for about $900, or roughly 650 euros.

This was no studio. The apartment was a spacious three-bedroom, one-bath affair with a large living room and serviceable kitchen directly behind the Divani Caravel Hotel.

The apartment was near numerous markets, within easy walking distance of the Athens Metro system and only steps away from a multitude of the ever-critical restaurants and even more critical bars. In other words, it was a perfect base of operations.

Some advice if you decide to opt for apartment living over a hotel during a visit to Athens. There is no daily maid service, so bring some extra towels and … ahem … extra toilet paper, too. Do not disregard this helpful tip.

Bloggers have noted that from time to time some of these apartments are not in the most pristine condition upon arrival. Armed with that knowledge Angela made it emphatically clear to AthensStudios.com she expected a clean and ready apartment - and it was.

Taxicab Confessions

One of the many useful guide books on travel in Greece is published by Lonely Planet, which includes this passage: "Many Athens residents will tell you that their taxi drivers are the biggest bunch of bastards in the world." There is great truth to this sentiment as we were about to learn on our first night in the city.

One of the reasons for this trip was the chance for Angela and the boys to touch their past and meet Ntona (pronounce Doe-nah), a cousin of Angela's mother.

Ntona, who is in her 70s, met us at our apartment - with a gift of baklava - and insisted on taking the family to one of Athens' more picturesque restaurants, Dionysus, a splendid open-air eatery at the foot of the Acropolis.

Athens cabs, like almost all cars in the city, are small, accommodating only four passengers at the most. Our trip to the restaurant would require two cabs, with Angela and the boys in one, Ntona and me in the other.

Ntona instructed our cab driver to follow the car in front, an instruction he immediately ignored. And although I was a first-time visitor to Athens, I knew enough to figure out that any trip to the Acropolis area would involve going uphill. The driver was driving downhill.

This was not good, and thus, I was treated in my first hours in the city to a heated argument between Ntona and the cab driver, which one did not necessarily need a command of Greek to grasp.

In time, the cab left us off at the bottom a very long hill some distance from where we needed to be. Then, Ntona, who had had a recent hip replacement, stormed up the incline where we found the rest of the family and an incredible dinner as dusk settled in and the lights of the Acropolis above us in all its spectacular brilliance embraced an otherwise perfect first night in Athens.

Alas, the cab-driving community of Athens was not done with us. After dinner, a city hack demanded 50 euros from me to take Ntona home; a fee I was to later learn should have been half that amount.

An Educational Walk

Our exploration of the city the next day, booked through www.athenswalkingtours.gr, began oddly enough in the main Metro station at Syntagma Square in the heart of central Athens in the capable hands of Despina Savvidou, who delivered a fascinating, enlightening and, at times, politically candid stroll through the history of this cradle of civilization.

We met Despina in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the morning commute. The Athens subway system was built in response to the 2004 Summer Olympics over the objection of historians and archeologists who feared the loss of antiquities in a city where history is measured in millennia rather than decades.

In fact, the construction of the subway had the benefit of aiding archeology, Despina noted, unearthing multiple cities buried one on top of the other with many artifacts and historical explanations on display for commuters traveling through the city's Metro stops.

Emerging into the sunlight, a visitor is struck by an incongruity found everywhere in this city.

For many years, Athens was regarded as one of the dirtiest, most polluted cities in Europe. That has changed - dramatically. For a city of some 5 million people, the air quality of Athens is remarkably clean, as are the streets, with nary a piece of litter seen.

Yet, sadly, graffiti is EVERYWHERE, with the remote exception of the Parliament Building, which has the advantage of armed guards. Indeed, about the only other thing even more ubiquitous than the wall scribblings is the omnipresence of dogs, dogs, dogs, dogs roaming the streets.

The hounds are well-fed and more knowledgeable about traffic laws than most tourists.

We were told the dogs are abandoned by Greeks who buy them for their children, then set them loose once the kiddos leave home. It is one of stranger aspects of Greek domestic culture. But all in all, the dogs themselves appear fairly content, so go figure.

Another area of contemporary Greek life, explained to us in rather unvarnished terms by Despina, are the influx of illegal Albanian immigrants swelling the population of Athens by as much as 1.5 million people.

The Albanians are sort of the illegal Mexicans of the Balkans, and like their American counterparts, no more welcomed.

Repeatedly, we were warned to be on the lookout for Albanian pickpockets, Albanian hucksters, Albanian highwaymen.

The Main Event

Of course, eventually all tours of Athens culminate at the main attraction: the Acropolis, the Parthenon, the Temple of Athena, which dominate the skyline. It was showtime!

Admission into the Acropolis complex is 12 euros, but the ticket is also good to visit other sights around Athens, including the Ancient Agora marketplace, the Theater of Dionysus, the Roman Agora and the Temple of Olympian Zeus. Not a bad deal, at all.

Is there a more iconic image than the Parthenon? Yet, to see this temple - built in perfect mathematical symmetry and profound creative energy 500 years before the birth of Christ in honor of the goddess Athena, without the benefit of even a slide rule - simply staggers the imagination.

And then there is this: The complex took about 10 years to build - in the fifth century B.C.

You should also know the Acropolis, like virtually all ancient sites of interest in Greece, is a personal injury lawyer's dream come true.

This is not a more-than-500-foot hike to the top for the feint of heart. You are treading upon stones worn smooth by more than 2,000 years of Greek defenders; Romans, Turk and German invaders; and millions and millions more tourists.

Yet, there are precious few railings, or even the most basic security precautions, which would have tied the Acropolis up in a U.S. trial court since Alexander the Great. Use footwear that offers good traction. If you're thinking about wearing open-toed sandals or shoes to one of these sights - don't.

Our walking tour with Despina for four people cost about 70 euros, and then it was off to lunch in nearby Monastiraki. This might come as something of a disappointment to Americans whose Greek dining experience begins and ends with Tarpon Springs.

There is no flaming saganaki. They just bring it to the table - pretorched. No one yells, "Opa!!!" Ask for a glass of Roditis, and the waiter looks at you like you're insane. Just order a glass of rose.

Our lunch at one of the many, many outdoor cafes throughout the city was briefly interrupted by a gentlemen of African decent trying to sell bootlegged copies of "Spider-Man 3," which brought on an impassioned lecture from Angela on intellectual property laws and copyright infringement.

He was not amused.

Later than night, using the funicular trolley, we ventured up Lykavittos Hill, the highest point in Athens at 910 feet, offering a stunning 360-degree view of the city. We were also ripped off by another Athens cab driver, who charged us 20 euros for the ride to our apartment that should have cost about 8 euros.

Luckily, we found a swell little bar, the Red Lion Pub, to drown our sorrows. How unusual is this saloon? The owner refuses to accept tips. Things were evening out.

It's Not The Love Boat

When this excursion was first contemplated prior to our departure, I always thought the one-day cruise we had scheduled to visit the islands of Poros, Hydra and Aegina would become a major aspect of this trip. Alas, things turned out differently.

Booked through Hopin Sightseeing for about 90 euros per person, the cruise aboard the Annie Maru was pleasant enough. The water was postcard blue. The scenery was absolutely gorgeous. The daylong venture certainly was relaxing enough.

But the stop in Poros was useless - only 40 minutes, just long enough to be hustled by street vendors selling Greek geegaws. The visit to Hydra was only slightly more extended.

Finally, we reached Aegina, the largest of the three islands and the only reason Angela booked the cruise in the first place - a chance to visit the resting place of the Greek Orthodox Church'sonly 20th century saint,Nektarios. A local cab driver took us for 15 euros round trip.

Most of this cruise was preoccupied with either shipboard vendors trying to sell us stuff or landside hucksters trying to rip us off. Charming. "I don't mind the money; I mind the deception," grumbled one tourist in a distinctly American accent.

The cruise was also noteworthy for the presence of one of the world's worst comedians, who appeared throughout the day in wacky, zany, dreadful costumes. The Japanese tourists on board, however, regarded this poor sap like the French view Jerry Lewis.

We spent the next two days exploring the Athens National Gallery, the War Museum (long history, lots of wars) and, of course, the city's central shopping district, the Plaka, an inviting warren of shops and cafes.

As well, no visit to Athens would be complete without witnessing the elaborate changing of the Evzone guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in front of the Parliament Building.

A few days earlier, Angela had been stopped by a museum worker atop the Acropolis from taking a picture of our son, Alex, in front of a bust of Alexander the Great. The worker said posing with the bust would have been disrespectful to Greek history. Whatever.

However, tourists are free to stand next to the stern-faced, motionless Evzones and mug away for the camera while soldiers are on duty guarding the tomb of a national hero.

Can you remotely imagine tourists being allowed to stand next to the U.S. Honor Guard on duty before our own Tomb of the Unknowns?

We discovered as well that we possess an arcane talent for finding just the right saloon no matter where we travel.

In this case, it was Alatsi, a bar and restaurant near the apartment we happened upon one afternoon. The place was roomy and friendly, and makes a handsome cocktail, along with some of the finest Cretan/Greek food you will ever experience.

This has to be noted as well. If there is a hell for professional busybodies such as Rob Reiner, Greece in general and Athens in particular probably qualifies. There are no such things as no-smoking sections.

Greeks light up whenever and wherever they please. Even the ticket-taker at the National Gallery had an ashtray at her elbow.

Off To Nafplio

Throughout our stay in Athens, we used the city's subway system, which is clean, efficient, affordable and - understandably - a service we took advantage of to reach the bus terminal for a two-day trip to Angela's grandmother's village, Nafplio, about two hours south of Athens in the Peloponnese.

Our lodging was the Nafsimedon Hotel, an intimate affair with spacious rooms, a quaint courtyard ideal for that first cocktail of the day, a lovely breakfast buffet in the morning and much welcomed English language CNN and BBC on the television - all for about 100 euros a night.

Nafplio is dominated by some imposing structures.

The massive Palamidi redoubt, a complex of seven different fortresses rising above the city, was built by the Venetians in 1711 and conquered by the Ottomans after a one-month siege in 1715. So much for the best-laid plans.

We walked - climbed, crawled, shuffled - our way to the top and, despite the threat to life and limb, the view of the Aegean below was worth the tourist masochism.

In the harbor beckons the Bourtzi, an island fortress built by the Venetians in the 1470s. At one point, the Bourtzi was the home of the local executioner, which might suggest business was brisk.

A brief water-taxi ride for 4 euros gets you back and forth, hopefully in better shape than the former resident's clients.

During our stay, Angela discovered the home of her grandmother, which marked an emotional capstone to our trip, an event we celebrated walking the town square dropping in on several cafes. She felt … at home.

The Camera's Fate

Back in Athens, our last day was spent moving to the Best Western and enjoying a leisurely stroll back through the Plaka, a late lunch and a spur of the moment trip to visit the University of Athens.

We had discovered all too late the Tavern of the Steps for our last meal, and then came the fateful discovery of the lost camera. Everything - the dinner at Dionysus, the Acropolis, the cruise, the Palamidi, the Plaka, everything was in the camera, now lost forever.

We landed in Milan on an Alitalia flight at about 8:30 a.m. Angela immediately called the number the desk clerk had given her for the University of Athens. At first, Evangalia Karaiskou, who works in the university's financial planning and development office, said no camera had been found.

Angela, in Greek, pleaded with her to please look, explaining our entire vacation was captured in that camera. Call back in a half-hour, she was told.

As we were standing in line to board the flight to New York, Angela called Evangalia back. The camera had been found. Anybody want to guess the odds of that?

And thus arose one of the advantages of her work as executive director of the Holland & Knight Charitable Foundation. One of the firm's lawyers, Brian Starer, is a frequent visitor to Athens as part of his maritime law practice.

Brian was able to contact a legal colleague in Athens, Bill Patkos, who was kind enough to retrieve Angela's camera from Evangalia.

So the pictures accompanying this piece are more than photos of a wonderful trip - they represent a Greek tragedy with an improbably happy ending. Opa!

Daniel Ruth can be reached at (813) 259-7599 or druth@tampatrib.com.